Ex-Yankees top prospect finally reaches potential with Dodgers in massive week (duh)

You have to give to get in this game, and the Yankees were fooling themselves if they thought they could carry a middle infield glut at the top levels of their farm system for another year without breaking up the core.

Only issue is, the Yankees took a step towards clearance ... only to ask for a second baseman (Jorbit Vivas) in exchange when they finally sent Trey Sweeney elsewhere. There was always going to come a day where the Yankees had to pick favorites (Anthony Volpe), throw a blanket on the untradeables (Oswald Peraza, their fault), and figure out the right time to maximize their other assets like Sweeney, Roderick Arias, and George Lombard Jr. (and, yes, maybe move someone to third base).

Brian Cashman decided the offseason was the time to get the ball rolling. He saw the Dodgers in desperate need of clearing a 40-man spot for Shohei Ohtani (poor babies) and pounced. Both teams exchanged top-10 prospects in Sweeney and Vivas, while the Yankees asked for an additional 40-man reliever in Victor González to be extra helpful.

González has been moderately effective for the Yankees as a mid-tier reliever over 16 2/3 innings, punctuating a memorable win over the Rays with a wild dive to first. We'll take that. Vivas has recently returned (and performed well) after giving himself an orbital fracture with a foul ball.

Sweeney? He started similarly slow with the stick, resembling the majority of his Yankees tenure by looking good-not-great for a bat-first prospect. That all changed last week, though, when Sweeney drilled six homers in a week and took home PCL Player of the Week honors, nestled right next to Johnny Cueto. Triple-A is weird!

Former Yankees prospect Trey Sweeney has finally broken out for Dodgers

For those Yankee fans who don't want to self-loathe too much, that bonkers week boosted Sweeney's average all the way up to ... .252 on the year with a .799 OPS. He has nine total homers (in a league known for being hitter-friendly). He hasn't spent the season's first two months making the Yankees regret giving up on him too soon -- only the past week or so.

It's unlikely the Yankees will beg for a magic eraser on this transaction given Volpe's breakout at the big-league level and Vivas' progress in recent days (as well as Caleb Durbin's scorching season). It might actually be for the best that the Yankees handed the Dodgers a good one. Increasing trust between front offices -- especially when the Yankees did the Dodgers a favor in the first place by helping them clear roster spots -- could be a boon down the line.

That's assuming Sweeney doesn't swing a World Series, though. Knowing what we know about the Dodgers' player development system, it simply can't be ruled out.